A Heart Like Loki
by Safe Haven
Summary: A free-spirited trickster who certainly doesn't act like the princess she is, and her prey - an unwilling prince forced to stay in her company for a month. Let the games begin...
1. Trouble

I've been kicking this idea around for a few months, and figured it was time to make some use of it. This was originally written as a non-Inuyasha story, but I was a few pages in when I decided that it would make an interesting piece of fanfiction.

By the way, Inuyasha is completely human in this story. Sorry, no doggy ears.

Also, Kagome is an unusually hyper trickster in this story. A little out of character perhaps, but other than that I'm trying to keep her more in character. She also has several non-canon siblings other than Souta, including her older sister Filiola, and her eldest brother who does not have a name yet. Well, he has a name, but it hasn't been mentioned yet, because I cannot think of one.

Speaking of Kagome, I don't know what her mother's name is, so I named her Pretiosus. An unusual name, perhaps, but it she was named so after a friend. (And Pret said I would forget! Hah, take that!)

And just to warn you, I tend to distort and blend cultures to my liking. Please excuse the shameless mockery of the medieval feudal structure.

And of course, (why must you make me say this?) I do not own any character in the Inuyasha series, including Kagome, Inuyasha, Myoga, ect.

That said, let's get on with the story!

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Chapter One: Trouble 

If you were to ask the members of King Regius's Court when the trouble started, most would say it began seventeen years ago. Seventeen years ago, the King's sister, Pretiosus, became Queen upon her marriage to King Higurashi. King Higurashi ruled over a minor kingdom called Solum, to the southwest of King Regius's kingdom Rubrica.

The trouble took form fifteen years ago, when Pretiosus bore King Higurashi a second daughter, Kagome. It was the last child she ever had. A year, later the seemingly healthy young queen fell ill, and remained bedridden for seven more years. Her condition continued to worsen over those years even as Higurashi hired every doctor, pharmacist, apothecary, physician, and herbalist he could find. Eventually, Pretiosus died on an autumn evening. Higurashi was deeply saddened by the loss, but he carried on like a King was expected to.

But he remained worried about Pretiosus's children, and figured it best to send his two daughters and his younger son away for a time being. Filiola, the oldest daughter, was sent to Castellum, a well-established province in the northern Solum lands. Souta, the youngest son, was sent to Villa Russus, a province of eastern Solum, closer to Solum's capital, Corolla.

Kagome, however, was sent to live at the court of Higurashi's brother-in-law, King Regius. That, the courtiers would tell you, is where the trouble came to a head.

Solum was not a large kingdom, nor overly prosperous. It had a stable economy and people were generally happy, but it was not a kingdom to be ranked among the finest of the day. Perhaps if Kagome had not been born in Solum, if she had instead been born in one of the more prestigious kingdoms, such as Rubrica, maybe she would have turned out differently.

Or perhaps not. It is said by some that the true spirit will reign, and if that is true, Kagome would have been just the same, in whatever kingdom she had been born in. Of course, any kingdom with Kagome in it would probably have soon been wishing that she had been born elsewhere.

To the King, people would have said she was healthily energetic. In the court, they would have said she was free-spirited. To their friends, they would have said unruly. To themselves, they would have said rude, disgraceful, and wild. Truly, Kagome was nothing less. She disrupted court and drove the nobles crazy with her wild antics, never passed up a chance for a prank, and generally enjoyed making life as helter-skelter as possible.

Her behavior was hardly suited to one of such pedigree, in most of the court's view, especially for one her age. King Regius, however, only smiled at his precious niece's wild conduct, laughed at her pranks at the nobles' expense, and happily encouraged her to continue her untamed antics. Though the nobles of the court found Kagome at best an annoyance and at worst downright torture, none would say anything straight to the King's face about his unruly niece. They would drop veiled comments about her 'abundance of energy', or comment icily on her 'clever tricks', but none wished to drop out of the King's favor with outright criticism of his dear young charge.

Kagome was not extravagant like her mother, or spoiled like some of her siblings. The nobles could have easily handled a pampered little princess. What they were unable to handle was the rough, outspoken, down-and-dirty Kagome.

The day she arrived from Solum, the royal carriage had been lead through the gates of the castle with full ceremony and pomp – the entire cavalry, decked out in their finest, was there to deliver a full salute; gaudily dressed nobles sat proudly astride royal stallions drawing the livery-laden carriage; imperial soldiers in golden armor and red velvet capes flanked the procession; banners flew from every spear and lance and turret.

Amid the cheers of countless people and the blare of trumpets, the royal carriage had stopped in front of the streamer-bedecked platform where was seated the King and his highest-ranking nobles. The carriage door had been opened by the primly-dressed coach driver, and out had stepped, with flawless grace...a dog.

The well-groomed dog (with the princess's golden circlet about it's neck) had proceeded with dainty, measured steps to the King's platform, bowed regally to his royal highness, and threw up on his royal highness's royal foot. In the midst of the shocked silence, a single voice rang out in delighted laughter. A young woman with dark hair popped up from behind the King's bejeweled throne and put her hands over his eyes.

A few soldiers rushed forward to remove the commoner from their King's head, but halted as King Regius gave a great 'ha!' of laughter as he turned around and threw his arms around the girl. The two held the happy embrace for a few moments, laughing heartily into each other's faces, before the King pulled away, and proclaimed to the speechless nobles and the shocked crowd, "Rejoice! The Princess has arrived!"

That little prank Kagome pulled that first day should have been recognized as but a preclude to the barrage of tricks she would pull for the years she would remain at court, but few saw it as such an omen until she had been at court for some time.

The next day, when the nobles had recovered from the blatantly improper (not to mention embarrassing) display that had occurred, the court assembled once again in full ceremony, this time within the castle, to properly welcome the princess.

While the nobles had donned their best apparel – fine clothing suited to their station, accented heavily with brocade, gold-plated designs, and jewels sewn right into the extravagant silk and linen garments – princess Kagome was dressed rather simply. If her entrance the day before had not made such a deep impression on the nobles present, many could have easily passed on the young girl on by, mistaking her as a handmaiden or even a court servant.

After many an extravagant introduction on the nobles' part, with much reciting of titles and formal bows, Kagome had jumped up and excitedly shook the hand of the closest (and highest-ranking) noble. With a wide, impish grin on her face, she moved down the line of stunned men and women, shaking the hand of each in turn with a roguish exuberance. Upon shaking the hand of the last one, she made a show of making a deep, extravagant curtsey before sprinting cheerily back to her seat beside the King.

The first noble tried to discretely wipe his hand on the side of his intricately-embroidered silk tunic, and didn't have much success in stifling his cry of dismay when he saw the bright red hand-print that appeared on the fine cloth. The one next to him saw, and looked down at his fur-trimmed mantle to find a similar red hand-print. Soon almost all the noble-men and -women were forcing down groans of horror or disgruntlement as they examined the red marks on their own clothing where the palms of their hands had touched their garments.

A few who had not touched their clothing and therefore had no marks were holding their hands out in front of them with an annoyed look on their faces, examining the red dust on their palms. A smaller few were snickering quietly, mostly the lower-ranking nobles who had been towards the end of the line and sported only very faint red prints.

Many eyes had turned to Kagome, who sat on her chair with an innocent look on her face, eyes wide as if saying, _Who, me? Never!_ She was resting her hands on her knees with palms up, the red powder on her hands blatantly obvious.

"Go on," the King said with a nod to Kagome. He himself had a red hand-print on his fine velvet tunic, though his eyes were filled with amusement and silent laughter rather than the anger or annoyance in the nobles' glares.

"Red ochre," she announced brightly, clapping together her hands to send little puffs of red powder into the air. "A truly Rubrica hello, yes?"

Over half-stifled shouts of fury, Kagome and King Regius shared another laugh. Rubrica was the Red Earth Kingdom, where much of the soil was tinted red with the natural red ochre that gave the kingdom its name.

The red ochre incident was soon forgot by most, but only because Kagome wasted no time in setting up more of her roguish pranks, ranging from simple little spur-of-the-moment jokes to complicated plots with intricate plans requiring the skill and attention of a dedicated trickster. Eventually, the nobles who attended court learned to check their seats before sitting down, keep their personal affects close about them, be suspicious of anything on the ground, treat any offered food or drink with trepidation, and generally be more cautious.

Some of the courtiers found her antics humorous; a refreshing break from the dry and tedious political affairs of court. They would smile behind their sleeves when someone would jump out of his seat with a yelp to find there several tiny caltrops (none larger than a quarter of an inch high and fashioned from harmless bits of wire), or some flawlessly dressed lady would unknowingly have dirty rags pinned to the back of her dress for hours.

Nobles were soon muttering amongst themselves that the dog that Kagome had employed in her first joke would have been preferable to Kagome herself. At least the dog had been well-groomed and acted accordingly (right up until the end, anyway, when it had thrown up on the King's foot). Kagome would have none of the preening or primping expected of royalty.

She refused to let anyone put up her hair in any of the complicated, extravagant styles of the ladies of the court, or to paint her face with any of the powders and dyes usually utilized by any female (and many of the males) who stepped foot in the court. Upon her arrival, her wardrobe had been suitably prepared, filled with fine gowns and many-layered formalwear, but soon after she had made Rubrica her home, the silk robes and embroidered stoles gave way to plain breeches and tunics, simple sandals and boots, and undecorated coarse wool cloaks.

No one was sure where she obtained such 'commoner's garb', but even when they would sneak in to replace the plain clothes with traditional royal garments, Kagome would always outfit be seen running about cheerily the next morning in her chosen apparel. They had questioned the servants but were still unable to root out her source. Kagome herself had no servants or handmaidens. Several girls, hand-picked by the King, had been assigned to her when she had arrived from Solum, but Kagome had quickly instructed them to go help someone else. When they seemed hesitant, she had filled their arms with several of the fine gowns and told them to scram or she'd put the fine silks and velvets where the sun didn't shine.

Kagome would not have anyone dress her in the morning, or rouse her when the others of the royal family were awakened. The first time she woke up in Rubrica, she had quietly slipped into plain workclothes, and went downstairs where she quickly located the mess hall where the servants ate. She helped herself to the gruel and bread being served there, and seated herself at a table of scullery maids, stable boys, runners, and others of that domestic army that kept the castle going. She ate and talked animatedly with them, and when she left a few wondered who the new long-haired boy at their table was, but as servants came and went often, no one paid much attention.

Over the next few days, she had developed a sort of camaraderie with many of them. She was welcomed by them for her sharp and clever attitude – she could battle wits with the best of them, always had an amusing trick up her sleeve, and had a seemingly limitless supply of bawdy jokes. She found it quite enjoyable to spend time with people her own age who didn't care about politics or courtly manners, and in any case she found the simple, hardy food preferable to the confusingly complex and extravagant dishes everyone always seemed to be trying to stuff down her throat.

If the courtiers had to say something in Kagome's favor, they would probably mention she took great pride in her hygiene. Almost every morning, before or after breakfast, she would take a bath. The odd thing, in much of the court's eyes, was that she insisted on preparing the bath herself. She had made her plans, and a few days after her arrival she had convinced the chief of kitchen staff to give her the key to the largest old storeroom in the castle.

Upon procuring the key, she combed over the gigantic storeroom (which was really more like a dump and mostly held ancient or broken cooking and cleaning equipment) until she found what she was looking for. Somehow, she hauled a great cast iron pot, about four feet high and five in diameter, into a corner of the castle's much-neglected secondary herb garden. The more-used garden was closer to the kitchens, so almost no one frequented the area she chose. She spent two days scrubbing out the giant pot, and made a permanent home for it in the shade of a large oak tree in that half-dead garden.

No one really knew what she was doing until the third day, when someone spotted her carrying a large pot of boiling water (this in a more kitchen-sized vessel, mostly used for soup) across the castle grounds. The porter who spotted her immediately rushed out to see what she was doing and offer to carry the pot for her, but she waved him away and continued on her way to the gardens. There she poured the soup pot of boiling water into the iron cauldron, which was already mostly full of steaming water, in which steeped a few handfuls of some dark green herb. Kagome had shooed the porter away, and happily took her bath.

When she was done, she had used the soup pot to portion the water out to the parched earth of the garden, and went to find the head gardener to procure the supplies she required to revitalize the mostly dead plot of land. A few days later, word had gotten round of her odd bath ritual, as well as her new project to replant the secondary herb garden. By the time the dead plants were cleared away and new sprouts broke the surface of the carefully tilled soil a few months later, most were referring to the resurrected garden as Kagome's Garden.

Slowly, the court learned to adjust to Kagome, and life at King Regius's castle slowly learned to flow smoothly again, for the most part. Kagome could have left after just a month and Rubrica would have never been the same, but by the time our story takes place, she had been there for over two years.

In those two years, Kagome had blossomed from an impudent, mischievous, free-spirited child into an impudent, mischievous, free-spirited young woman. Stories had spread of her trickster ways and unladylike behavior, but nevertheless, a few would-be suitors had trickled into Rubrica with the purpose of wooing Kagome, perhaps thinking the stories to be either completely false nonsense, or in any case to be greatly exaggerated.

King Regius had let Kagome deal with the suitors herself, and they had often left within a matter of days. Some of them would be nursing small wounds received from some of her more exuberant antics, but most were nursing only wounded pride. They often left with ruined clothes, cut or burned hair, manure-filled pockets, or broken possessions. The most recent had coldly suggested to King Regius that he keep his "barbaric niece" in line, before leaving with half his fine fur stole in tatters, and a face colored bright green by one of Kagome's newest innovations, an exploding dye-bomb.

King Regius had been unconcerned by the reactions of the suitors, and had only sent out more invitations to the princes of any allied lands he could think of, including a few overseas. Fewer suitors arrived with each passing month, and Regius was at a loss to explain why. Kagome was rather disappointed in the lack of new arrivals, as the princes had been very amusing diversions and quite enjoyable 'playmates'.

She was not completely at a loss for people to play her little tricks on, as now and again a brave prince would dare to enter Rubrica and seek out Kagome's hand. Some went because they figured they could handle whatever an energetic woman-child could dish out, or because they were being herded into Rubrica against their will.

In fact, one such not-so-willing participant in the Suitor Game was arriving today.

It was a grim day, to say the least. The sky was painted a dark gray, and thunder muttered threateningly on the horizon. A faint drizzle was keeping up at just the right rate to cause maximum discomfort and annoyance.

A small train of carts and carriages wound its way through the sparse woodlands near the east wall of Regius's castle. No banners flew, being so soaked that it would take a storm to stir them, and the attendants to the royal caravan were just as drenched and listless. The sorry caravan was hailed as it approached the wall, and the east gate was opened to allow them admittance.

Normally any cart was briefly searched before it was allowed to continue, but the guards recognized the livery that adorned the carriages, and waved the little procession on through. A dark blue shield adorned the side of the carriage, with two crossed swords behind a white dog's head, with a round pink stone in the center of the dog's forehead. It was the crest of the Shikon family, a moderately powerful family to the northeast of Rubrica.

The caravan came to a halt in the muddy ground in front of the castle itself, as stablehands and servants rushed out with practiced precision to quickly lead away the weary horses, unload luggage and supplies from the carts, herd the caravan's attendants into the castle, and receive the royal guests. The guests were lead into the main reception hall of the castle, where Regius was waiting with several of his nobles and most of the royal family.

It was clear that Regius and the tall, dark-haired man who seemed to be the spokesperson for the small group knew each other, but there was much formal introduction and extravagant bows to get through as dictated by tradition. Eventually though, Regius stepped forward with a smile and clapped the dark-haired man on the shoulder, a gesture which the man returned.

"Kengou, my old friend," Regius said warmly. "It has been a long time."

"Indeed," said the man called Kengou, with a smile that brought a flicker of light to his tired eyes.

"You must stay this night and wait until tomorrow to travel again. We have a banquet ready for your arrival, and by the looks of it, you and your crew could use a good time."

"Ah, but only if I could," Kengou sighed with true regret in his voice. "But we are under orders to return as soon as we have safely delivered the young Prince. I am pained to have to leave so soon upon seeing you, but I'm sure I will see you again soon."

Kengou leaned closer and whispered so that only Regius could hear, "Very soon, if the stories I've heard are even half-true. Your young niece seems quite the wild one."

"Nonsense!" Regius scoffed. "Kagome is an angel! She's just a little playful."

"Really?" Kengou said, raising an eyebrow. "I do seem to recall that Prince Hojo returned home with a shaved head and quite devoid of his rather finely-crafted spectacles."

"Ah, well, you know young people these days," Regius said, waving his hands in a vague, dismissive manner. "She's a bit of a rascal, I'll admit, but she's nothing but pure innocence deep down. You know, correct me if I'm mistaken, but the Prince does not seem to be with you at the moment. Where is he?"

"I believe he's still with the caravan. Myoga should be fetching him soon." Kengou said. "And now that I think about it, the Princess does not seem to be with you, either. Where is she? I was quite looking forward to meeting the young barbarian in person."

"Oh, around somewhere. She's probably in the kitchens now, seeing as it's almost noon, but you can never really be sure where she is. But I did tell her of your coming, so she'll be on the look out for your young Prince for sure. She's always looking for new people to play with. It's a shame they often leave so quickly."

xXxXxXx

"Master Inuyasha, would you please come down already?" Myoga pleaded. He was a short, balding man, about as wide as he was tall. He was currently trying to persuade his young charge to get out of the rain and enter the castle.

The boy was sitting on top of one of the carriages, cross-legged and unperturbed by the rain that had soaked him to the bone and plastered his silver-white hair to his skull and shoulders. He was dressed in extravagant royal-class garments consisting of many layers of thick fabric and heavy brocade, adorned with all manner of intricate embroidery, fur trim, and other similarly grandiose ornamentations.

The extravagant regalia had been long ruined by the rain, though the prince seemed less concerned with the state of his clothing than the thoughts that currently occupied his head as he glowered at the castle before him. There was a deep scowl etched into his features, and by the look of it, his face was one not unaccustomed to such an expression.

"Mater Inuyasha, I know you are not here by choice, but can you at least come down and come into the castle? Sulking will get you nowhere," Myoga advised.

When Inuyasha showed no response, the tired but patient man sighed and continued, "You can spend the next month out here in the rain, or you can at least come down and maybe even just _pretend_ like you want to make a good impression. At least try this time, would you? You as well as I that the King of this land and your father have very good relations and it would advisable not to ruin anything. Your brother, at least, would a––"

"All right, all right!" the soaked prince snapped. Muttering darkly to himself, he clambered down from the carriage and was lead into the castle by a relieved Myoga. The two entered the main hall just as Kengou and Regius were exchanging their farewells. A few servants slipped quietly out of the shadows to make an attempt to discretely clean up the water that was dripping from Inuyasha and Myoga onto the floor.

Kengou caught sight of the disgruntled Inuyasha out of the corner of his eye and quickly turned about with a quick bow before ushering him forward. After Kengou had delivered several practiced lines of introduction on Inuyasha's part, the dark-haired man bowed a final time before departing with most of those who had arrived with him.

Inuyasha stood stunned and disoriented as he listened to the clatter of horses' hooves outside, and watched from the open doorway as the sorry caravan was urged into motion and settled off at a dreary pace through the mud. Well, there went his plan to hide in one of the carts before they departed. He had not planned on them leaving until the next day.

Well then. They were going back to Shikon. He was not. Instead, he was staying in this godforsaken kingdom he had never been to before and knew very little about, except that it was inhabited by a malevolent trickster who seemed to have it out for princes.

It was going to be a long month.

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So that's it for this chapter.

I'm going to bed now, because I am far too sleep-deprived to function much longer.

Please review, even if it's a flame. Flames will be used to burn down the damn shrub (they call it a 'Christmas tree', but I can see through its pitiful disguise) that has taken up residence in our house.


	2. Exchange

Thanks very much to everyone who reviewed, it was the just the kick I needed to get my lazy butt out of bed and get back into writing. This chapter is a little choppy, and it doesn't really _go_ anywhere, but I promise that the next one will be better! Really! Cross my die and hope to heart... or something like that.

And as **inashosetai **reminded me, I forgot to specify much about Inuyasha's features. Yes, he has his golden eyes, so don't die on me! Silver hair and gold eyes, just no doggy ears. He _does_, however, have artificially sharpened nails and teeth to resemble claws and fangs, because it's part of his kingdom's culture. But that doesn't come into the story until later, so don't worry too much about that.

Dis-clay-mur Time! I don't own Inuyasha or Kagome, or any of those other characters. But I do own Kengou and Miss Teishu! ... Even though they play only tiny parts... Damn!

* * *

**Chapter Two: Exchange**

Perched comfortably on top of one of the thick stone walls that encompassed the castle and separated the fortress grounds from the surrounding town, Kagome watched the soggy caravan stir to life and meander glumly out of the castle gate and through the buildings of the waking settlement.

The rain had dissipated to a faint drizzle and then to little more than a mist by the time the little procession was out of sight, and the town came a little more alive. Of course, there had already been people working since dawn, and people in the streets and in the market square. A little rain wasn't going to stop the people of Rubrica, no sir!

Kagome yawned and stretched, kicking bare feet lazily in the damp air for a moment before standing. The leather breeches and wool shirt she was wearing were soaked, but she hardly seemed to care. She did, however, take a moment to undo a corner of the very large bundle sitting beside her, and check that the contents of the package were dry. Satisfied with her inspection, she re-tied the bundle and tossed it into the shrubbery at the base of the castle wall.

Her uncle, while encouraging her antics within the castle, didn't so much approve of her going into the town without an escort. Well, it wasn't _her_ fault that she went out so often. They shouldn't have planted that elm tree right there where someone could accidentally make a rope ladder, and throw it up to the lowest branch (fifteen feet off the ground), and climb to the top, and jump onto the wall, and leap to the ground on the other side. Poor planning, that was it. Not her fault at all.

Kagome stepped off the wall and dropped like a stone into the bushes below. The first time she had done that, she had almost broken her leg, but she had long since learned to roll with the impact, and came up a little muddy but no worse for the wear. Retrieving her large bundle and whistling a repetitive little tune, the princess swaggered off into town. No one took much notice of her. What was one more errand-boy or apprentice with a load for his master?

She knew the roads of the town as well as she did the corridors of the castle, but she took the long route, stopping for breakfast at a market stall selling fresh bread and game meat, and taking a short detour to see how the construction of the new theater was coming. Eventually, though, she made it to the long, winding expanse of Elderberry Street, where she stopped at the Doyadoya Inn and entered through the back door.

The normal comforting chaos of a busy kitchen greeted her. A plump woman gutting, scaling, and slicing fresh trout seemed to recognize Kagome, and nodded a greeting. Kagome waved happily in reply and quickly maneuvered her way out of the kitchen and through a swinging door that led to a narrow staircase. Taking the steps two or three at a time, in a matter of seconds she was through another door and on the second floor.

"Look out!"

A sickle-shaped blade whirred over her head and buried itself several inches in the wood frame of the doorway, just a few centimeters above her. Kagome turned and looked up at the quivering blade with surprising calmness for just having narrow missed getting a rather deadly haircut. The blade was attached to a chain, which was in turn attached to a young dark-haired boy with an expression of horror on his pale face.

"Sorry, your Highness!" he squeaked. Mechanically, he jerked his arm back, and the blade was wrenched from the woodwork, spinning through the air for a moment before the boy caught it by the handle and followed through with a well-executed sweep of his arm. "Sorry! Sorry sorry!"

Kagome smiled in a carefree manner and waved her hand dismissively as he stammered apologies. "It's okay Kohaku, I'm quite unharmed. Nice throw. And don't call me that, you know I hate it."

"Oh. Right. Sorry. And thanks."

"Though, why are you practicing inside?"

"I hit a customer last time I practiced outside. He got mad and made Miss Teishu give him back his money for the night, though he wasn't really hurt – I just cut off his pony tail was all. The lady he was courting thought it was real funny and laughed until she could hardly breathe. Sis said it was just his pride that was hurt."

"Certainly seems like he overreacted a bit. Speaking of your sister, is she in?"

"Yeah, she's in her room," said Kohaku, a grin spreading across his features as he added "with a _booyyy_."

"A boy? You sure we're both talking about the same person here?"

"See for yourself," Kohaku challenged, grinning wider and swinging his weapon in lazy circles. With a measured flick of his wrist, a dust bunny rolling erratically across the floor was cleanly split in two.

Hefting her bundle, Kagome crossed the room in a few long strides and paused at her friend's door. She set her burden down and pressed an ear to the closed door, her eyes widening in surprise as she heard muffled grunts and one low growl. Tentatively, she pushed at the door, half-expecting it to be locked. Instead it swung easily open.

Inside, seated at a small table in two rickety-looking chairs, a brown-haired woman with a ponytail and a black-haired man in black and purple monk's robes were arm-wrestling. The woman looked almost bored, while sweat beaded on the monk's forehead.

"Ah, Kagome," the woman said, looking up. As if it required no more effort than swatting a fly, she snapped her arm down, wrenching the monk's arm to the side and flat onto the table, before standing and smiling at her guest. "You made it."

"I come bearing gifts," Kagome said, picking up her bundle and tossing the large package at her friend, who caught it easily, and even used the momentum of the impact to do a little spin on her heel, just for show.

Miroku grimly rubbed his wrist with an injured look on his face. "Ouch. My pride."

Sango ignored him, setting the bundle down on the bed and undoing the bindings, then tugging the wrappings away to expose a jumble of multifarious fabrics. "There must be at least a dozen seamstresses busy every hour of every day to keep you stocked with these," Sango prodded jokingly, picking up a long, embroidered gown of flowing blue silk and examining it with an expert eye. A pearly charmeuse stole, a floaty periwinkle robe, a red velvet dress with satiny trim, and other masterpieces of the seamstress and tailor's realm were similarly unfurled and examined.

When Sango had finished with her assessments, she turned back to find Kagome with one hand around Miroku's throat, pinning the unlucky monk to the wall, the other pulled back to punch him. Sango got the feeling that the events leading up to the situation had involved Miroku's hand and a rather personal part of Kagome's anatomy.

"Kagome!" Sango shrieked, leaping across the room to grab her friend's arm as she brought it back to swing. "What are you _doing_?"

"What does it _look_ like I'm doing? I'm going to punch him, of course!" Kagome snarled, as Miroku squeaked out a weak "thank you" at Sango and clawed at the surprising iron-grip that the young princess had on his neck.

Sango shook her head. "I know, but not like _that_." She received blank looks from both of them. Sango sighed and shifted her grip to her friend's fist, where she expertly re-arranging Kagome's curled fingers. "Don't hit with your thumb inside your fist, you might break it," she instructed, speaking with the calm, patient air of a teacher addressing her student. "And strike with the flat, _here_, not with the knuckles." Releasing Kagome's fist and stepping back, Sango nodded towards the stricken monk.

"Okay, _now_ hit him."

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Ah hour later, Kagome was scrambling up the side of the castle wall, finding small but suitable foot- and hand-holds in the age-pitted stone and crumbling mortar. Tied haphazardly to her back was a lumpy-looking bundle similar to the one she had left with, but smaller.

Reaching the top of the wall, Kagome pulled herself over and onto an outstretched branch of that oh-so-convenient elm tree. Half-dropping, half-climbing through the branches until they stopped, she wrapped her arms around the thick trunk and slid the last fifteen feet to the ground. Her clothes had mostly air-dried by then, but the slide had soaked the front of her shirt all over again. She didn't seem to mind. It was only clothes.

Humming a few bars of some half-forgotten tune, Kagome meandered off across the castle grounds, slipped through an unlocked side door, and sprinted through the dizzying maze of hallways with familiar ease. She darted easily past several servants and a small band of flirting courtiers, and one unfamiliar form in damp red garments. She grabbed one of the person's long, trailing sleeves as she passed, yanking expertly at the fabric to spin the person around as she continued running. She didn't pause to see the outcome of her little manipulation, but sprinted on to the end of the hallway, turned a perilous corner with arms flailing to keep her balance, and vaulted up a spiraling flight of stairs.

Inuyasha, lost in both the castle as well as his head, was jerked unceremoniously from his dark, brooding thoughts as an unexpected force was executed from his left, pushing his body into a wobbling twirl on the ball of his foot. He stumbled as the spin was completed, and a nearby wall caught him by his forehead. He reeled back, grabbing at his poor head and spitting curses to make a sailor blush, and toppled against a small round table set next to the opposite wall. The lovely blue-green vase on top of the table shuddered, wobbled, and dropped. Inuyasha snatched at it too late, and the porcelain urn shattered on the stone floor.

The young prince quickly gathered his feet under him and regained his balance. He stood for a moment in front of the scattered fragments of porcelain, before looking both ways and walking quickly away, with hands behind his back, eyes on the ceiling, whistling, trying his best to look as nonchalant as humanly possible. When a few corridors had separated him and the scene of the crime, he slipped through the next door he came to and blinked in the sudden glare of sunlight.

When his eyes had sufficiently adjusted to the light, he realized that he had wandered out onto the grounds. He turned to go back through the door he had just exited, and found it to be locked.

Damn.

Well, at least it had stopped raining. Everything was still damp, but the sun was out. And the air had that faint, pleasant smell that comes after rain, the ancient scent of distant hills and fresh grass. Inuyasha tugged at his soaked clothes, the many-layered regalia suddenly feeling far too close and heavy. For all the roomy spaces the voluminous garments offered, he felt like he was wearing a straightjacket.

Snorting at the world in general, he tugged at ties of the outermost layer and wigged out of the heavy fabric, letting it drop to the ground. He quickly shed a few more layers, and one by one the extravagant garments fell to the ground, each with a satisfyingly wet _squelch_. The embroidery and brocade of the expensive regalia was lost in the mud as Inuyasha stamped down on the fine clothes with a booted foot. He was soon left with only a fine but simple white tunic and voluminous but lightweight red trousers.

Free of the cloying attire and feeling much like a snake that had just shed an uncomfortable skin, Inuyasha kicked off his fine leather boots, took a moment to tie the wide cuffs of his trousers around his ankles, and set off at a happy run across the expansive castle grounds. Well, maybe this month wouldn't be _too_ bad. The castle and the grounds weren't as big as those of his home, but they were still pretty big. He just might be able to go the whole time without ever running into anyone, especially that psycho princess they had sent him here to meet.

He veered off towards the outer wall, where he figured there would be less people, and after a few minutes slowed to a trot. He had come to the edge of a garden, not as big as the big garden he had passed by the kitchens, but still rather large and looking very well-tended. No vegetables, he noticed. And the flowers that were there were small and scarce, looking like they were there simply because they had happened to come with the plant. It was an herb garden, not one for eating or for looks.

He didn't understand why an herb garden would be planted so far from the kitchens, but what confused him the most was the big iron cauldron. It was set near the one tree in the garden, so that depending on the time of day, it could either be in sun or shade. It was big enough to hold a full-grown cow, or comfortably fit two or three people. There were about six inches of water in the bottom, more than it could have collected during the rain. It was definitely being used for something, though he was damned if he knew what. To his eyes, just another example of the inherent strangeness of the people of Rubrica.

Shrugging, Inuyasha jogged out of the garden and took off at a run in a random direction, reveling in the feel of the wind in his face and the mud under his feet, which had already stained his trousers from mid-calf down. He had just settled into a comfortable pace, rounding a corner of the castle, when a servant flagged him down.

Slowing to a trot and then reluctantly halting, he put on his best You-Just-Interupted-Me-In-The-Middle-Of-Something-Very-Important-face as the man hurried towards him.

"Your rooms have been prepared, my Prince," the servant managed, slightly out of breath, as he reached the annoyed-looking Inuyasha. "If the Prince would please follow me..."

----------

Humming to herself, Kagome sauntered down the long corridor leading to her room. A long time ago, she would have had to stop every four or five steps to wave off some helpful servant or worried guard, but the castle staff tended now to keep their distance from the young princess unless she made it clear that she required assistance.

She had just reached her favorite verse in the tune when she kicked open her door and entered her room, startling a few maids who had been working fervently to clean the room and replace the wardrobe contents while the princess was away. Kagome grinned maniacally. She grabbed a fireplace poker leaning by the door and charged at the nervous maids, who shrieked and scattered, dropping brooms and piles of clothing as they scrambled for the door.

"Back, foul demons!" she shouted, jumping up on top of the bed and swinging the poker like a sword at the fleeing women. "Oh back, vicious harpies! To the winds with ye! Avast!" When all four of them had fled the room, Kagome laughed out loud and tossed the poker into a corner of the room. She spun around and flopped onto the bed, giggling, then sprang up and skipped quite giddily across the floor to where one of them had dropped a pile of woolen tunics.

"They think I don't notice," she mused to herself, picking up the little stack of shirts and opening her wardrobe, where several fortunes' worth of new fine clothes had been hung in place of her favored attire. "You'd think they'd get tired after a while, replacing everything. Not like I'm complaining," she remarked to the empty room, taking out a sea-green gown at random and holding it up to the light. "Sango will make good use of these."

Humming again, she shook her bundle from her back and opened it. Within lay a good quantity of simple but well-made tunics and breeches and trousers, with a few pairs of sturdy boots and a couple pairs of light sandals. Kagome pushed the beautiful, multicolored garments to the side of the large wardrobe and began to hang up her new duds. Every few days she would take a load of the fine clothes that they insisted on sneaking into her closet, and trade them off to Sango for some good-quality 'commoner-rags', as some of the court called them when they thought that the young princess couldn't hear. Sango recycled or remade many of the clothes that Kagome gave her, nicely supplementing the Inn's income. Sango always said it was the least she could do for Miss Teishu, who had taken her and her brother in when they had found themselves without a home or parents, several years ago.

Finishing her task, Kagome changed out of her muddy, wet clothes and into dry trousers and a short-sleeved tunic, and hauled out her Box. The Box, a locked chest which she kept in the back of the wardrobe, contained the majority of the materials for her favorite little tricks and pranks. Kagome unlocked it, lifted the lid, and looked into her little treasure chest. Ah, the possibilities...

Wasn't today the day that that new prince was supposed to arrive? Why, indeed it was. How nice.

Now just where was her new little playmate?

* * *

And... curtain drop! Yes, this chapter is done. I know it wasn't that great, but I'm just getting back into writing after a very long time of... well, not writing. The hiatus lasted longer than I expected, thanks to my inherent lazy-ass tendencies, topped by a very inconvenient and painful full-scale viral invasion of my lungs.

And as you all can probably tell, I am probably one of the least-motivated people in the world, so you guys really need to _remind me_! Review, yell at me, hassle me, ect. until I stop blaming my lungs and get my lazy butt back on the computer. Or rather, on the chair in front of the computer. Sitting on the computer would just be rather uncomfortable, not to mention there's probably a friendly but stern warning against such behavior in clear, proffessional script in the user manuel.

Oh, **important note!** Pret has called to my attention a few seconds ago that when Kohaku is talking about slicing the nameless man's ponytail off, he says he made Miss Teishu "give him back his money for the night". Pret has pointed out that some readers might interpret this wrong, so I'll just make a note here: Miss Teishu is an innkeeper. _Not_ a...uh... purveyor of negotiable affection. The "money for the night" was for his room, _not _for... other things. Okay? Okay.

And I'd just like to say that you guys who read and reviewed this are really all so great. Thank you very much. And now I am off to write out Kagome's devious plots for her unlucky guest. Muahahaha... -dramatic exit- (exit foiled by badly-placed skateboard at the top of the stairs)


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